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Tuesday, May 27, 2008

star quilt along, week 5

Welcome to week 5 of the star quilt along.

For this week's block (I'm not sure of the name) I have changed colors because my photos from the first time around were pretty poor. I made this block last night and it didn't go that well. I wasn't in a mood to be quilting (which I didn't know was possible) so that must have been part of it. Anyway, when I sew my block in a quilt top I am going to lose every one of my little points around the outside edge. Oh, well. At least it looks good squared up.

cut one square 7 1/4" from the background fabric

cut it on the diagonal twice, to make quarter square triangles

cut 5 squares 3 1/2" from the background fabric

cut 2 squares 3 7/8" from the background fabric

cut those each in half diagonally once, to make 4 half square triangles

cut 4 squares 4 1/4" from a medium print fabric

cut each of those squares on the diagonal twice to make 4 quarter square triangles from each square, for a total of 16 triangles from the medium fabric

cut one square 4 1/4" from a dark colored fabric

cut in half twice on the diagonal, to make 4 quarter square triangles

layout as shown (never mind that the bottom left corner is already sewn together)

to line up the triangles, I try to center them so there is an equal amount hanging over each side of the square. I just eyeball it. I never learned the "right way" to do it, if there is a right way. let me know if that helps.

I love the fabrics you chose for this block, my next quilt is going to be a blue and white one for my SIL, she loves blue. I am on my second quilt top (I figure I'm going to make a bunch of tops and then quilt them all at the same time. When I get in a groove I like to stay there!) and I'm loving it! I'm already planning a ton more! Who knows, maybe after a few I may get brave and try following one of your quilt-along quilts. Right now I'm sticking with easy ones. :-)

I have a neat trick on how to cenetr the triangles on the center square and the squares in the corners. I will takes some pics and describe it in a tutorial in the morning. It has been a busy day today and I am wiped. I will let you know when it is posted. BTW I really love the look of this block and the blue colors are great.

I just posted a picture of this block along with a tip on how to easily center those triangles on the squares. I didn't come up with it myself, someone else showed it to me. It is just so slick I thought I would share.

whoa, this block is a whopper. I'm glad it's the fifth one. I finally started today. Yippee. I'm on 3 and hope to finish it and 4 tonight. Then technically I'm caught up. I may need the rest of the week for 5. Glad i finally got my you know what in gear!

what is the white material you use on your quilts, like the improvisationally pieced scrap one? i purchased some bleached muslin today at a fabric store which is closing and am hoping to be able to use it to make throws with my scraps.

I just found your blog and I LOVE it! Love your tutorials, love all the quilt pictures, and love your quilt-a-longs. Your blog is very inspiring and makes me want to quilt even more. When my blog grows up it wants to be just like yours!

If you want the triangles to really line up well, you can make the flying geese units the traditional way. It wastes a bit of fabric, but is quite accurate.This is a good tutorial:http://www.sewaquilt.com/flying-geese.html

I just finished this one tonight... It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be... of course my block isn't perfect though. The hardest part for me was sewing both of those bias edges together!!! The fabric kept slipping around and getting sucked into the hole the needle goes into! Frustrating! I didn't rip anything though, and I like it fine the way it is! (it will fit in nicely with all my other 'wonky' blocks! I'm posting a picture tonight!